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How to Be a Happy Two-Career Couple, According to Science
It’s not just you — surveys show that even before the pandemic people across the world were reporting it’s getting harder and harder to find work-life balance. Thanks to the rising cost of living, longer work hours, abysmal childcare options, and always-on tech, professionals around the globe have been telling pollsters they feel more frantic and less happy for years.
So imagine how much stress power couples are under? Are these doubly ambitious pairs with two big jobs doomed to struggle with balancing the dueling demands of their two careers?
That’s what INSEAD professor Jennifer Petriglieri wanted to find out with her latest research, which involved in-depth interviews with 50 two-career couples. Happily, she came back from these conversations with optimistic news. It is possible to pursue to big jobs without resentment or marital strife, but in order to have two careers and a happy union you need to give up on something surprising: compromise.
One person’s success shouldn’t demand the other’s sacrifice.
What could possibly be wrong with compromise? We’ve all been told since at least kindergarten that meeting in the middle is generally the way to settle disputes with those we care about, but according to Petriglieri’s research…
